A violent Fourth of July weekend in Rochester has a local nonviolence advocate saying “enough is enough.”
Starting Saturday morning, 12 people were shot, one woman was stabbed, and two Rochester Police officers were assaulted while responding to one of the calls.
“It was ridiculous,” says Wanda Ridgeway.
Ridgeway is the executive director for the nonprofit Rise Up Rochester, which reaches out to families and communities impacted by gun violence. Ridgeway says she’s not only concerned by this weekend’s violence but by what she says is a growing trend of guns in the wrong hands.
“We have to stop sugarcoating everything, you know who is out here dealing the guns, and you know who is out here doing the shooting,” Ridgeway says. “You have to say something.”
Three-day data from the Rochester Police shows one person was shot on July 5 last year. Over the last five years in the same three-day span, holiday shootings spiked with six in 2018, with at least five shootings in both 2016 and 2017. Data did not account for stabbings.
Ridgeway says while her organization routinely teams up with other organizations to find ways to curb the violence, these groups can’t do it alone.
She stresses both parents and police to join them in stepping up with community outreach. For instance, the organization began coordinating prayer circles, and is planning its annual “Safe Summer Initiative.”
Amid the coronavirus pandemic, Ridgeway says it’s been difficult to gain continued support, and she says she does not have all the answers, she believes not taking action soon- could lead to more shootings down the road.
“Hey, we’re taking our streets back, enough is enough, I’m tired of burying black men, I’m tired,” she says.
The organization meets Thursdays at 6:00 p.m at 550 Meigs St. in Rochester.
–whec